Breakout 1: How to Increase Diversity in your coverage Thursday August 29, 2019

1 Session Description

• To encourage attendees to seek and pitch stories about demographics that are underrepresented in mainstream news. • To offer suggestions on how to cast more diverse characters for stories using LGBTQ people rather than the traditional husband and wife. • The encourage a discussion about casting a wider, more diverse net in LGBTQ coverage to better present the perspectives of women and people of color.

2 The Panel

Simon Bouie Producer for the CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell based in Los Angeles

Sharif Durhams President of NLGJA and Senior Editor, CNN Digital

Dr. Bethany Grace Howe Researcher, University of Oregon

Patrick Lee Editor for CBS News 60 Minutes

Michelle Miller, Session Moderator Co-Anchor CBS This Morning Saturday 3 Let your voice be heard! Participate in the ASNE Newsroom Diversity Survey

Dr. Meredith Clark

The American Society of News Editors is currently conducting their annual newsroom diversity survey. The survey is a good way to get actual data on LGBTQIA representation at all levels of an organization. The Survey Closes on August 31. To participate in the survey visit this link - http://bit.ly/ASNE_LGBTQIASurvey The research is being led by MEREDITH D. CLARK, PH.D. Dr. Clark is an assistant professor in the Department of Media Studies at the University of Virginia. She spent 10 years working in print and digital news media before making the transition into academia. Clark’s research, teaching and professional writing focus on the intersections of race, media, and power. Preliminary 2019 ASNE Survey Findings are on the next slide 4 Preliminary 2019 ASNE Survey Findings:

Of 111 self-identifying LGBTQIA journalists queried in the 2019 ASNE Newsroom Diversity Survey, thus far the research has shown the following:

• 90% of respondents work in mainstream (i.e., not LGBTQIA+ focused) media • 40% of respondents had 10 or more years’ professional experience working in journalism • 22% indicated they worked in a management role between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2018

• 78% of respondents were white • 9% of respondents were Black • 6% of respondents were biracial or multiracial • 1% were of Pacific Island origin • 9% indicated they were of Hispanic/Latinx ethnicity

• 77% of respondents indicated they were fully or mostly “out” at work • 11% indicated they were somewhat out, including those who were out sexually, but not in terms of gender identity • 6% indicated they were somewhat closeted at work (i.e., people close to them might know) • 8% indicated there are not out/are closeted at work 5 Helpful tips and words of advice

The following are suggestions, tips, resources and words of advice from journalists who represent many different kinds of diversity. They have been added to this presentation to provoke thought, give a good suggestion or provide inspiration. I hope that at least one of these items is of value to every person reading this. Thank you for attending this panel and enjoy!

Simon

6 Jonathan Blakely Senior Producer, CBS This Morning

• No one is thinking about you…ever: When it comes to hiring or promoting, you have to operate under the assumption that you are not on the radar unless YOU raise your hand and let your goals be known. Don’t assume that managers know how much you contribute and how much your work is appreciated.

• Everyone has blind spots, including you: When it comes to diversifying coverage, for people of color or other marginalized groups, we have to be even more careful about how we frame conversations around divisive issues. It’s always helpful to go out of your way to make sure you are seeking out other perspectives so your reporting is as fair as it can be.

• Write, Write, Write: No matter how you consume your news – podcast, print, digital, radio, TV – somebody wrote it. Writing is literally one of the only skillsets that is transferable in every single industry in journalism. Make the effort to strengthen this critical skill.

• Speak up, or Shut Up: If you are a victim of verbal abuse or have been mistreated repeatedly by a co-worker or manager, say something! Depending on the situation, confronting the person face to face, or going to your HR manager could be necessary. But doing nothing will change nothing.

• Listen to your head and your heart: We cover extremely traumatic, divisive, and depressing news on a daily basis. To perform our jobs well, we often have to detach from the natural emotions other people get to feel at these events. But bottling up those emotions is not good, and if we aren’t careful they can lead to breakdowns. I’ve had one myself. It’s not anything to be ashamed of to seek help/therapy. For what we do, it can make all the difference. 7 Manuel Bojorquez CBS News National Correspondent

• Be aware: On one of my first trips to Latin America to cover immigration, I started to notice that a significant number of LGBT youths were part of the migration. I didn’t expect it, but it became a chance to include their plight in the larger story. • Be sensitive: Especially when speaking with those who may not be completely comfortable with the public spotlight. Ask specifically how to refer to them, their spouses or significant others, ‘partner,’ ‘wife,’ ‘husband,’ etc. It goes a long way to understand and be careful not to assume. • Be prepared: Reach out to advocacy groups, support groups, etc. in your area and get on their radar. When a big story happens, you won’t be a cold call and they could connect you with the right person for an interview. • Be creative: Not every LGBT story has to be a hard-news look at an issue, as important as those stories are. Whether it be a feature, photo essay, etc., think about ways to incorporate diversity in a wide range of stories. • Be smart: As we all know, a lot of hate lives online and as we push our coverage to social media, you will have to deal with that. Be smart about how, or even if you engage. Some trolls aren’t worth the time. In other words, think before you tweet. 8 Simon Bouie Producer, The CBS Evening News

• Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t have an honest career as opposed to just a job: Don’t fall for the “you should just be happy that you’re here” trick. • Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t have an exceptional life and that you rather have to settle for one of diminished expectations. This should apply to all areas of your life and not just your work life. • Don’t over promise and under deliver: If you say you can do the job, you have to be able to do the job exceptionally. Don’t ask for a shot if you can’t deliver and knock the ball out of the park. Let the excellence of your work speak just as much about you as do the other things that people associate with you. • Demand dignity and equal treatment in all things: If your organization claims to govern itself by polices that promise equal opportunity and equal treatment, remind them of that. • Speak truth to power: Do this respectfully, intelligently and with eloquence of course. Approach difficult conversations in the spirit of trying to help the institution be better for all of its employees. • Bring new ideas to the table: If you feel there is a void in your organization in the outreach and coverage of a certain demography, come up with a smart idea that would help fill some of that void and something that management can get behind. It might not be easy, and it might take considerable time to achieve, but it could be an incredible investment. • Remember, respect and include all the different LGBTQ perspectives: As a person of color who is also a member of the LGBTQ community, I often feel that coverage of LGBTQ issues is told from one perspective and that people of color, women and the Trans community are often not represented. It’s difficult to truly achieve LGBTQ equality when everyone within our community can’t have their voice heard. • Despite the victory of marriage equality, the quest for total and permanent equality is not over: As a community we have made great strides in the last four years. However, we can’t take our foot off the pedal. We must continue tell stories about the need for and power of equality. 9 Maryhelen Campa Deputy Bureau Chief, CBS News Southern Region

• Finding diverse characters for stories: Every industry has a support organization for people of color and sexual orientation. There are organizations for Black doctors, Latino attorneys, Asian CPAs. Scour the web and social media to find experts in just about every industry you can think of. Facebook has millions of specialized groups. While many may be “closed” groups, you can always send a message to them asking for guidance. For example here’s a Facebook group for Gay Engineers, https://www.facebook.com/groups/5158454814/. • Do a Facebook search for the specialized expert on the topic you are covering: On Twitter, search “Twibes” or “Twittgroups” to find social networks on the topic you’re covering. • LGBTQ Groups: Consult with LGBTQ groups in your community. These groups will offer you both “experts” as well as story ideas. If you’re really serious, then attend meet-ups or social events in your area. The same is true for ethnic organizations in your city. Remember, finding stories and sources is all about making contacts. Especially face-to-face contact. • Consult with college or universities that are “off the beaten path”: We all know how beneficial your local university is with experts. Instead of calling the school’s main PR department, go deeper. Approach the ethnic and LGBTQ departments and ask for educators who are people of color and/or LGBTQ. Tell those departments you are looking for a different perspective on whatever topic you’re covering. Better yet, how about approaching colleges that generally have a high concentration of people of color or are more supportive of LGBTQ students? For example, Cal State University Los Angeles and UCLA each have high percentages of Latino students since it’s located near East LA. MIT and UCLA each have a high number of LGBTQ students. Howard University and Morehouse are traditionally Black colleges. Approach those schools first before going the “traditional” route. • Journalist Toolboxes and other search engines: https://www.journaliststoolbox.org/2019/07/03/expert_sources/ - This is an SPJ list designed to search web sites to find expert sources. 10 Maryhelen Campa Deputy Bureau Chief, CBS News Southern Region

• https://diversify.journalismwith.me/ - This is a listing of diverse journalists who could help with research. • HARO: http://www.helpareporter.com - This is a database that offers a pretty robust source for topical stories. • The Google “deep dive”: https://scholar.google.com/ - This is a search engine for scholarly literature. Take a tutorial to learn ways to refine your search • How to search research projects: https://research.google.com/pubs/papers.html • Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/ - This is a good tool to do searches on case law, patent law, scholarly articles, business patents, who’s the top scholarly person on a topic. You can set up alerts on this site. Take the tutorial to learn ways to refine your search. • Hashtag searches: https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/news/2297394/hashtags-come-to-google-search- results - Google now searches social media sites, this link will show you how. • Google Trends: https://trends.google.com/trends/?hl=en – This allows you to search what’s trending in Google searches.

11 Dr. Meredith Clark University of Virginia

Some insights from qualitative data captured in last year’s ASNE Annual Newsroom Diversity Survey Research: • One way for employers to indicate a more inclusive environment is to ask the question, “how do you identify?” and allow for open-ended responses: We recommend this question be posed either by a third party working to assess newsroom/organizational diversity, or in anonymous, organization-wide, self-reported data. • Racial and gender discrimination go hand-in-hand with the often “invisible” layer of LGBTQIA+ identity: Many respondents talked about experiencing marginalization or hostile treatment based on another structural factor. We encourage the race- and ethnic-specific affinity groups to consider inclusion efforts that recognize their members are often “_____ and LGBTQIA+,” challenging assumptions about heteronormativity among people of color. • Participants indicated a desire for more “normalization” of gays and lesbians in news coverage: For instance, producing stories about families with same-sex partners as heads of household as part of the background rather than the feature (i.e., in a story about rising college costs or caring for aging parents). This relates back to efforts like Gannett’s early 2000s-era “All-American Review,” which encouraged properties to develop lists of ‘diverse’ expert sources and use them judiciously, rather than defaulting to white sources as standard practice. A corollary is for reporters and editors to include LGBTQIA+ sources without making their sexuality or gender identity the focus of the story. • “Acceptance” in the newsroom is interpreted as the ability to be authentic: As one participant said, “can you bring your full self to work?” Affirmation of this practice is creating space where diverse viewpoints are heard rather than dismissed as irrelevant or marginalized as somehow aberrant in mainstream news narratives. 12 Anh Do Metro staff writer, Los Angeles Times Member of the Governing Board, AAJA

Thoughts on how to diversify storytelling:

• Go to offbeat listening spots beyond a corner café: What about visiting a house of worship in a hidden community, the type of community that rarely gets coverage. Other spots include a newsstand, bakery, bookstore, convenience store, nail salon. • Tune into a local radio station to pick up on what they're buzzing about. • Quote academic sources that work on smaller campuses: Seek data and expert opinions from vocational schools or community colleges that are home to large immigrant populations. • Infuse different generations into one story or series: For example when doing a new feature, seek out the voices of a grandma, mother and daughter. Blend in photographs for contrast and perspective. • For LGBT issues, seek out non-traditional sources such as Buddhists, poets, adopted children of same-sex couples or sport coaches. The idea is not to always turn to the obvious but to be creative and even edgy when getting "man on the street" voices. 13 Dr. Bethany Grace Howe Researcher, University of Oregon

Five things I learned as a nationwide researcher because I didn't have to be a journalist:

• Dallas, TX: What is a very good thing for everybody, is absolutely terrible for somebody. • Albuquerque, NM: The very worst decision somebody could possibly make is often for very good reasons. • Spokane, WA: Even where people are thought of as safe, some people live in perpetual fear. • Louisville, KY: There's a thin line between truth and lies, but an even thinner one can lie between truth and truth. • New York, NY: If you assume everyone is just as smart as you - maybe smarter - you'll usually find you're right. 14 Lai Ling Jew Director of Professional Development, CBS News

• If you’re a manager, make sure you are creating teams that are diverse to avoid group think: Think of this not just in hiring practices, but also as in assigning producers, correspondents, editors, et al. • Make a conscious decision to look at the mix of stories in the rundown daily: Are the stories diverse? Are the correspondents and anchors diverse? If not, and you’re not a manager, why not mention that to a supervisor? Or suggest that the next day a diverse voice/team is needed. • Look for allies: It may be tough to always be the person pitching stories about a certain demographic, so reach out to others on your team to get their backing or help. Suggest an idea to an anchor or correspondent and ask if you can co-pitch an idea. • Actively seek out a variety of sources: If you see a great interview or read a great quote, keep track of the speaker for your future booking needs. Make sure your daily news sources are diverse and that you’re not only consuming the mainstream press that everyone is utilizing. • Connect with organizations that can connect you with a network of diverse voices: Reach out to people like Cathy Renna of “Target Cue”, a PR firm that specializes in LGTBQ issues. Cathy is a good person to ask for a variety of LGBTQ voices and perspectives. 15 Patrick Lee Editor, CBS News 60 Minutes

• Don't be afraid of who you are: As an Asian man , I was concerned that people would consider that to be my beat or my lane. I made sure that people saw more in me than just my ethnicity and sexuality. However, I did not shy away from my own history and life experience. A diversity of perspective and experience can only enhance the strength and excellence of an organization. • Have Courage: It’s a struggle to point out things that make you uncomfortable and sometimes the things that are flat-out wrong! You have to speak up when the approach to a story is framed inaccurately, incorrectly or insensitively. • Speak up for others: You are not just fighting for your own equality and opportunity. You have to speak up for other individuals and other groups to give a voice to the voiceless. • We need to have a conversation about covering LGBTQ stories with a new approach: In 2019 what is the best way to cover gay issues? How do we deal with stereotypes and how do they fit into our coverage? • Learn from younger generations and unheard from parts of the community: We should not assume that we have all the answers and we should try to learn from all the diversity within the LGBTQ Community as well as from the Non-LGBTQ community. The more we understand others, the better we cover all issues. • Don’t be judgmental • Be open minded when covering every story • News Organizations need to have dedicated LGBT Issue and Civil Rights reporters to keep these stories in the news at all times and not just those moments when something monumental happens. 16 Alturo Rhymes Senior Producer, The CBS Evening News

• Look in Mirror: Don't be afraid to use your life, your experiences, what you talk about with your friends, and family as a resource and guidance. Don't think others know your experience better than you and those who live it. • Look outside your network: Expand your resource pool, cast a wide net and don't be afraid of those who might not agree or look like you. • Look outside the line: Don't think a diverse voice can only talk about a "diversity" related issue. Experts come in all shapes, colors and orientations. If they are smart, if they have something to say, why not use them? • Listen: Listen to the criticism of coverage, to the praise, to the message being given, which may not always be exactly what is being expressed. Sometimes the story is in the follow up and not in the first question or report. • Learn: Read, discover, explore. There are voices aplenty out there, you just have to find them so be curious, it's our jobs to be so, and when you stumble upon a smart new voice, add them to your contacts for future reference. 17 Jonathan Vigliotti CBS News National Correspondent

• Talk to people and visit places that make you feel uncomfortable: Seek out communities you haven’t been to before. Don’t go to the shopping center where you bought your last pair of shoes. Don’t interview the storeowner where you grab your morning coffee. I believe this form of news gathering actually curates the message because you’re likely talking to people that share similar views with you. While there are definitely some circumstances where talking with people inside your social circle is helpful and can make a story stronger, especially if the story involves your neighborhood, by-and-large many stories aren’t anchored to one specific location. In those circumstances seek out parts unknown. • Ask yourself -What and who makes you comfortable?: For example: There’s a heatwave and your assignment is to go and talk to people about how they’re coping. What would you do? Where would you go? Who would you approach? I asked myself this question years ago and realized I used to approach more women than men. While the backgrounds of the interviewees was diverse, I clearly had a preference for a specific gender. Since then I’ve been more aware of who I approach for an interview. • Language barriers are no excuse: Don’t put limits on your ability and don’t let others put limits on you. I have been told many times to only interview people who speak English… the theory (I guess) being that a predominantly English-speaking audience only wants to hear from English speakers. I’ve also been told I wouldn’t be able to effectively tell the stories of non-English speakers because I didn’t speak their language. As a correspondent who has reported from Spanish-heavy Miami and more than 30 countries internationally I can tell you that those barriers are a myth. From Haiti to Morocco to Syria… I’ve never struggled finding someone who could help translate. Never. • Your story is not your Instagram page: What you post on Instagram often reflects you and your preferences, as a journalist your stories should do the exact opposite. Don’t filter your stories. • I think the key to increasing diversity in our coverage is much simpler than strategically seeking out specific groups. Our stories will organically be more diverse as long as each of us embraces and seeks out what makes us feel uncomfortable. 18 Mireya Villarreal CBS News National Correspondent

• Commit: Find a way to figure out if this job, this industry is really for you. The news business isn’t easy. It is often far from glamorous. You’ll have really high highs and some very low lows - But it’s your commitment and passion that will get you through both and make you a better journalist. • Develop contacts and “godmothers or godfathers” in this business: Contacts aren’t just for stories, they are for your survival. Strong mentors and friends in this business will provide guidance, support and possibly open doors to new opportunities when the time is right. Ultimately, you are in charge of your destiny and success; but no one can do this alone. • Embrace where you came from and your uniqueness: The facts are the facts; that’s journalism. But good journalists are able to give people the kind of perspective they need to truly understand what they are seeing or reading. Using your background and experiences helps strengthen your storytelling by contextualizing the complicated parts. Don’t run away from your past. Growing up in a border town with a Mexican/American background has helped me develop contacts and offer insight on the immigration front most of my colleagues don’t have. • Pick your battles: You’ve made it. You’re a working journalist. But what does that really mean? It means, there will be days when you cover the most amazing scenes and topics. And then there are days when you cover the most horrible parts of humanity. That’s the job. But live for the moments where you get to tell the stories you’ve pitched and believe in. Trust me, that’s often 1 out of every 5 stories for me. May not seem like the best odds, but it’s what keeps me going. 1 out of every 5 stories is something I’m passionate about or something that makes my heart happy. Those are the stories I fight for because that’s what keeps me going in this business. • Be confident and take care of yourself: I once had a dear friend tell me - You’re not special. And she truly meant it with love. Every one in this business doubts themselves and their abilities at some point, it’s normal. And there will absolutely be people who make you feel small and try to knock you out of the game. Trust me, you’re not special in that way. But you do belong here. Now, more than ever we need strong, confident journalists that are willing to go beyond the headlines. Take care of yourself, stay healthy and have a life outside the newsroom. 19 Last and certainly not least, some closing thoughts on what it takes to be a good journalist from a truly great one.

Susan Zirinsky, President and Senior Executive Producer, CBS News

• Be authentic: You must be true to who you are. • Embrace the fear of the uncertain: This is like a drug and it fuels me. • Find comfort in being uncomfortable: I’m still working on this one. • NO is HELLO!: It’s the beginning of a conversation, not the end. • Sleep is highly overrated!

20 Intentionally Blank

21